Hightower pleased to be back camp for Connecticut Sun

By Jim Fuller jfuller@nhregister.com @NHRJimFuller on Twitter

Published 8:07 pm, Wednesday, April 26, 2017

UNCASVILLE >> In the midst of reflecting on what a crazy, injury-plagued ride it has been, Allison Hightower looked around at the empty seats inside Mohegan Sun Arena almost as if she was trying to relive the thunderous ovations she used to hear from the Connecticut Sun faithful.

“I just hope they remember me,” Hightower said with a laugh during Wednesday’s media day festivities.

The sounds of applause figure to be heard on May 2 when the Sun plays host Chicago in its preseason opener. It will be much better than the sounds she has grown accustomed to - the clanging of weight machines or splashes of water as she undergoes grueling rehabilitation sessions in the pool in her quest to return to the WNBA.

The issues began for Hightower during her breakthrough 2013 season when she transformed herself from role player into WNBA All-Star. Hightower was averaging 12.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3 assists per game when a strained right knee ended her season after 21 games. What made Hightower’s situation tougher to bear is that while some of her high-profile teammates simply failed to show up, walked away or appeared to mail it in after head coach Mike Thibault was let go and replaced by Anne Donovan, Hightower continued to bring it day in and day out.

A different knee injury forced her to miss 20 of the 34 games the following season and just when it looked like she was in position to return to the WNBA, news would break of another setback with Hightower’s troublesome knees.

“Allie was one of my favorite players when I first got here,” said Connecticut Sun guard Kelly Faris, who played with Hightower during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. “She is a smart player, a good player. She is a fun player to be around, has a good personality, great energy for the team. I am excited for her, happy for her and pray that she stays healthy.

“You feel for anybody with an injury. It was like she couldn’t catch a break and I hate it for her,” Faris said. “More power to her for fighting back.”

Fighting back is probably the best way to phrase it. Having played in parts of five WNBA seasons and made some additional money playing overseas, nobody would have blamed Hightower if she bid adieu to her playing career.

“It was frustrating, there’s no doubt about it,” Hightower said. “All I wanted to do was to play.”

Hightower knew there was a risk of issues with her ligaments and cartilage after the first major injury in her left knee.

Some people in her situation might have cringed when a basketball game was on television, but Hightower had a different take. Even after her injuries forced her to miss the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons and appear in 35 out of a possible 136 regular-season games over the last four season.

“I love to watch basketball,” Hightower said. “I always watched the games. It was tough at times, but it made me want to get back out there.”

Hightower played for about a month for Israel powerhouse Maccabi Ashdod this winter, but fatigue set in since she had been away from the game for so long so she returned to her Dallas home to prepare for the WNBA season.

Introductions were needed when she arrived at training camp since Faris, Alex Bentley and Alyssa Thomas are her only former teammates.

She is also part of her third different coaching staff. Thibault was coach when Hightower was taken in the second round of the 2010 WNBA Draft. Donovan coached her during the 2013 and 2014 campaigns and now it is Curt Miller. If she makes the team, she would be the only Sun player on Connecticut teams coached by Thibault, Donovan and Miller.

“When I was coaching at Arkansas, she was playing at LSU, so I was pretty aware of her strengths when she was a collegiate player,” said Sun assistant coach Nicki Collen, who is Hightower’s position coach. “She knows how to be a pro and she knows how to play fast in short areas. She still kind of has that explosiveness from the 3-point line and in the lane, which is good and she has that mid-range game. I think where she is going to wear down a little is the full-court game. I’m not sure if she is as fast as she was coming out of college, but when she gets into that half-court execution and she has the ability to use ball screens, she can still be pretty explosive off the bounce.”

Hightower quickly earned a reputation as a strong defensive player while at LSU and that was the case early in her WNBA career as well.

“That is a strength,” Collen said. “Even when you look at the numbers on her, and maybe she is only 5-9, but she has a 6-foot wing span. Her length and activity with her arms and feet is really what separate her and allow her to defend point guards, 2 (shooting) guards, you can even move her over to guard a bigger 3 (small forward) in this league because of her length. She provides that lift and she understands WNBA defense, she understands how to get through a screen because of her time in the league.

“She has a good leadership perspective where she is going to understand how the veterans and best players feel on a daily basis, and also the players who are just happy to be on the team and that dynamic. She wants it that much more because she has worked so much harder to get back in whatever capacity that is, I think to make this team and be on this team would be a huge accomplishment for fighting back.”

Hightower admits that being a vocal leader is not something that comes easy to her. She is not a player who is going to get in the grill of an underachieving teammate.”

“It’s hard to believe I’m the oldest one,” Hightower said. “I’m more of a leader by example and I’m trying to help out as much as I can.”

There are no lack of young players. Led by 2016 first-round picks Morgan Tuck, Rachel Banham, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Williams, 10 of the 18 players currently under contract are 25 or younger. Still, Hightower’s veteran presence, as well as her inspirational return to the court, is not lost on her younger teammates.

“It is exciting to see how well she is doing and she is going to make a huge impact on the team,” Tuck said. “It is amazing to see because we are in such similar situations (with multiple knee injuries). She has been in the league a lot longer than me, but I like to talk to her just because she has been where I have been. She is still a great teammate, is positive and helped the young ones out as much as possible.”